Pennsylvania woman charged in parents’ cold-case murders, investigators say she did not act alone

Delaware County prosecutors charged Michelle Zajko on June 24 in the 2022 killings of her parents, Richard and Rita Zajko, turning a long-running cold case in Chester Heights into an active prosecution. The charges include first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit first-degree murder and burglary. District Attorney Tanner Rouse said investigators believe Zajko was inside the home when Richard Zajko, 71, and Rita Zajko, 69, were killed and that she did not act alone.

The couple were found dead on January 2, 2023, after being shot in their home on December 31, 2022. Prosecutors say Rita Zajko was shot in the back of the head, while Richard Zajko was shot in the right hand and right temple. Pennsylvania State Police concluded in February 2023 that the killings were not a random act of violence.

Text messages, ballistics analysis and enhanced audio pulled from security video are part of the evidence. A neighbor’s doorbell camera and cellphone records are also in the file. A second person was captured entering the home and has not been identified.

The killings took place in the couple’s childhood playroom, which still held old dolls and toys when investigators processed the home. Richard and Rita Zajko were landlords who rented several homes in Aston Township.

Rouse said the office has not publicly named the alleged co-conspirator and said, “We don’t have a smoking gun.” Michelle Zajko has been jailed in Maryland on unrelated charges since February 2025 and is awaiting extradition to Pennsylvania. The so-called Zizians, a cultlike, AI-obsessed vegan group, are tied to six homicides across three states, including the January 2025 killing of U.S. Border Patrol Agent David Maland in Vermont and the 2022 killing of California landlord Curtis Lind.